364 reviews for:

Supernova Era

Cixin Liu

3.21 AVERAGE

challenging dark medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

It reminds me of Lord of the Flies, only with the whole world experiencing an event like that. And then maybe a little bit of The Good Earth, too.

Lots of potential for first half.

Some silly, unrealistic parts.

Anti-climatic ending.

Recommended read for the perspective of a Chinese Sci-fi writer.

The adults are wiped out by a cosmic event that results in the Lord of the Flies on a planetary scale. Liu uses some hand-wavy logic to explain how only the adults were affected by the supernova, which is rather uncharacteristic of his writing. Normally he goes into dissertation-level detail behind the science of major events. Scientific realism is his brand, so it it was a surprise to see that lacking. The story does have some interesting plot points and a few unexpected turns, but overall it's rather boring. Out of all the Liu's stories that I've read, this one is mostly written from a larger macro perspective, which gives it a sterile and detached feel. There's very little character development or backstory. Liu goes into great detail describing the child war games, but I ended up skimming most of that because I didn't care. Overall, this is my least favorite Liu book/story. Maybe the premise would've severed better as a short story or novella instead of a 350 page book?
adventurous dark emotional medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Was it bad? No, but it was not as good as the 3BP series, with pretty much the same underlying ideas. Obviously different plot, but thematically it didn’t add much I feel. Cixin Liu is a great writer!
adventurous dark funny fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

As always, Liu takes an interesting perspective on, using speculative fiction as a medium to think and communicate about society and politics. In Supernova Era, he takes would could have been a characteristically YAF theme (all adults disappearing) and crafts from it a brilliant examination of the myths that make societies function. Just like in The Three Body Problem series and Liu's other work, there is something characteristically Chinese in Liu's examination of society, something that always feels ever so slightly foreign to my American-educated, English-speaking brain. Overall, an enjoyable read and quality speculative fiction, though not as mind-blowing as The Three Body Problem or The Wander Earth anthology.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
adventurous dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Una hipótesis muy interesante la de este libro ¿Qué pasaría en el mundo si todos los adultos desaparecieran y los niños se quedarán a cargo de todo?

Si bien este es un libro de ciencia ficción con tintes de distopía, Cixin Liu sin duda ha planteado una situación sociológica y filosófica muy interesante.

El mismo autor nos ha dejado ver que la inspiración de esta obra es “El señor de las moscas” de Willima Golding, sin duda es casi la misma premisa, pero llevado a un terreno mucho más grande.
Lo que tienen en común ambos libros es que presentan a los niños de una manera nada blanqueada, consideran que los adultos vemos a los niños como intrínsecamente buenos, pero que en realidad se “portan bien” por la guía de los adultos que, sin ellos, en realidad sacan su lado salvaje.

Esto tiene su lógica, siempre se dice que los niños son muy crueles, porque sin duda no tienen filtros, pero Liu también plantea que no tienen un valor real del valor a la vida, ni humana ni de ningún tipo, así pues, bajo esta premisa, el mundo queda a manos de personitas crueles y que no les importa matar o morir con tal de tener diversión.

Este no es realmente un libro conclusivo y en mi opinión deja muchas cosas abiertas, honestamente no sé si es porque pretende sacar una segunda parte, pero por lo pronto me ha quedado a deber para saber cómo termina esta historia y al final como es que, quien escribe y narra los hechos históricos termina donde se encuentra.

Tiene además algunas cosas que narrativamente no me gustaron, como por ejemplo, la manera en la que supuestamente se expresan y manejan ciertos temas los niños, como si fueran adultos, pero al mismo tiempo esto lo hace mientras narra que están jugando, así que no tiene lógica la manera en que se expresan contra los hechos que se narran.

Es un buen libro, me ha gustado, aunque me ha quedado a deber, sobre todo en el final.